In laboratory and other environments, it is often desired to transfer small amounts of fluid from one location to another. This process is sometimes referred to as “aspirate and dispense,” in that fluid is aspirated into a dispensing device at one location, and the dispensing device is moved to another location at which the device dispenses the fluid. The amounts of fluid that may be desired to be transferred in this way can include just nanoliters or picoliters of fluid.
Existing transferring techniques can be disadvantageous, however. So-called pin tools enable fluid to be transferred in volumes as small as nanoliters, but these devices are relatively expensive, and permit just a signal volume of fluid to be transferred at a given time. Micropipettes, by comparison, are less expensive, but they cannot dispense volumes of fluid smaller than microliters with any precision. Piezo-capillary devices are another type of device that can dispense small volumes of fluid, as small as nanoliters, but these devices are also relatively expensive.